80% downloaded... but I don't think I will play it for a few days.

This is because I got Rome: Total War gold edition free with my preorder on steam... I am having so much fun playing Rome I might not play Empire for awhile

I can't decide when I'll get it!!! I already have Sins, DOW2 and SFIV on the go at the moment...I can't see where I'll find the time to squeeze in a time sink like Empire *sigh*

I will get it... in time. There is no rush. I am too bussy to play anything right now and when the summer starts I do not want to spend too much time in front of the screen. So when I am going to buy it I probably get it for a lower price hopefully. But I will read the reviews and watch the videos to it. I know i will love it

At lest your sorry.

Holy crap, that's a big install. Might it rival Age of Conan's 20+gb install?

Steam usually launches around 5-ish EST I think? Kinda silly that it's completely tied to Steam activation.

Well I was actually surprised, until you said it I didn't know it used Steamworks. I mean, I get the whole pre-load/activation later thing, but come on, if the box is on sale in the morning, not to have activation up in the morning is silly People burn cars for that stuff!

I have been reading some of the user reviews on gamespot. Some of them are furstrated over the fact that they didn't know the game required an internet connection to install, and by that reason, they are reviewing the game based on it's installation requirements than the content. I just bought a copy of the game and it clearly states on it's cover that it requires steam and internet to play.

Iam not saying it's a good step creative assembly has taken but still, people should check out their facts before venting.

Ok here is the bottom line:

It is a great game, poor activation issues (box-copy/digital download pre-loads, etc.)

The AI turns take FOREVER!!! I usually get up and pet my cat or do a chore or something in between. 

The load times for battles seem bareable (but as I said, AI turns take forever)

System hog-15 gigs and needs a powerful PC.

Naval Battles-got bad reviews but I think they are fun, especially if I'm winning)

Grand Campaign is a wee bit diff, but it's a welcomed change

Tech Tree (research, 3 branches)

Wish more factions were playable, unless unlocked later (?) but i'm under the impression of no

Overall, A--.  It gets one - for long AI turns, and another - for various little things (more factions, 15 gigs)

Hope this helps!!!

-Phalnax

PS: Downloading this on my laptop now, wow it said it's going to take 8 hours, and I'm at home (wireless)

You have to have steam running...even for the demo. It's a real turn off, in any case.

The game runs like crap. I can have a maxed graphics game of Medieval 2 run perfectly, yet I can't even apply a graphics change to this game without it freezing. Worse still, after a few tries and getting it to the worse settings possible and waiting almost ten minutes on the load to the tutorials, I found the graphics to look like shogun total war with the performance of a next-gen fps. (On all low, anyway).

This is sad too, because I loved all the Total War games, but this game is just unplayable for me. I can't even start the land battle without it freezing on me two seconds in.

I can run the game on medium just fine, but like you, I am miffed that ETW requires a practically brand new rig/graphics card to run at high or better (I can run M2TW on high or better).  CA always does this.  Whenever they release a new TW, they always blow the minimum specs out of the water.  It frustrates the heck out of me.

I am firmly in Stardock/Ironclad's boat:  games should be made to run with quality graphics on mid-range systems.  I would think this would be common sense for game companies, especially in these tough economic times. 

Besides that annoying issue, ETW does seem to be another buggy entry.  I suspect the game will follow in the footsteps of M2TW:  a year's worth of patches combined with some heavy modding to make the game as enjoyable as it should be. 

My score:  B+

Hehe, I think I need to lower the difficulty to Easy down from Normal, I'm just getting into wars with six nations at once (as the bloody freakin' French) against all of Europe pretty much.

Indian Campaign, I find myself bankrupt.

Dutch and British are fun except my game was ruined by a freeze for the dutch and I don't know how many turns I lost of progress.

Owell, maybe I'll try the Russians...

-Phalnax